I actually was a member here a very long time ago, but I don't remember anything about my account information, or even what my old e-mail was that I used then. Thus, I figured I'd go ahead and make a new account. This past Saturday, my plans for the day were thoroughly derailed when I ended up with a 6(ish) month old pit mix in my kitchen.

To make a long story story short, 6 weeks ago a friend/acquaintance of mine called me to come over to her house to see they stray puppy her b/f had found. Upon going over, I saw that the puppy looked wormy, flea-infested, and about 4 months old. I convinced my friend that we needed to at least have a vet check for a microchip. Because I am a sucker, (and friend had no money whatsoever) once no chip was found, I ended up paying for vaccinations, de-worming and de-fleaing. I wanted to try to get the puppy in at a local rescue, but my friend decided that she wanted to keep the puppy. (They already had an 8 month old pit). I figured that since the local rescues were likely full, and I didn't have the ability to give the pup a home, I really didn't have a choice.

Well, about 3-4 weeks ago, I was told they'd given the puppy to a guy who really wanted a dog, but the dog would be living in his uncle's back yard since the guy's mom didn't want him to have a dog and had already made him give some other pits away. You can imagine my delight at this news. Then, on Saturday, I got a call from my friend that the puppy had shown up wandering down her street, looking all bitten up. I talked it over with my roommate, and got the go-ahead to bring the puppy back to our apartment, if she was in bad shape.

When I got over to where the puppy was, I could see a number of old and new bite marks. A number of them were scabbed over, but there were two on her hind leg that looked open and inflamed. She was also, once again, covered in fleas, and very prone to cowering away from people all of the sudden. So, I got the puppy into my car, got the okay from my mom to use the credit card, and off we went to the vet. She ended up needing two staples, the wounds flushed, and a two-week supply of amoxi. The vet said she'd gotten the bite wounds at several different points in time, and no one had bothered to get her any care for them. I'm to wait until she's off the meds to get her spayed and finish up the vaccinations.

So now I have a 6 month old puppy, who I've named Aveline. I've never had to house-break a pet before, so that part has been...interesting, so far. She's incredibly cuddly with people, and very dog social as well. I would have liked to have kept her quarantined from my roommate's Boxer, but the layout of the apartment doesn't allow for it. She's also a submissive pee-er, and hopefully that will go away soon. I'm here to look for resources and a home for her. I'm an unemployed, recent college grad who could be moving to a different state 6 months from now, and my lease doesn't allow pits. For now, I'm calling her a Boxer/Catahoula on vet paperwork. I'm really not in the right situation to provide a stable, long-term home for a dog. I'd really prefer to foster her for a rescue, or get her placed with a no-kill organization. Risking her life at a county facility that is not no-kill, no matter how nice they are, just doesn't appeal to me.

Sooo....that was not as short as I'd planned, but here are some pics of the cutie!

Thank you for the link. I didn't see that rescue when I was looking around online yesterday. I've shot them, and Rugaz rescue, an e-mail. It's fun, watching how ornery Aveline is getting now that she's starting to feel a little more confident in her surroundings. Granted, her attempts to rip up the linoleum are not appreciated. She does seem less energetic than I would expect from a pup her age--to be honest, I was having visions of the apartment looking like it had been hit by a tornado. I've been getting some info that she may have been kept on a chain, so do you think that as she gets more exercise, her stamina and energy levels will increase? I'm also wondering if the dark skin on the backs of her hind legs is from a urine burn? The hair there is very thin and short.

Also, how broad-spectrum is Amoxicillin? Because she hasn't had the full set of vaccines yet, I'm very concerned about her getting ill. If she were to get sick, there's no way I could handle a huge vet bill, and as sympathetic as my mother is, her generosity (understandably) has limits.

New pics of her being silly! (She is HUGE on as much physical contact as possible)

If you would like decent recsues in the area, I can suggest a few to you. Keep in mind, all in that area require you to foster the dog while they curtesty list it for you. Foster homes are so crammed down there, it's about impossible to find another foster parent.

As for rescues:

Rugaz is good, I used to be a Director for them before I moved up here a yr ago. If you ask them for a courtesy posting, they should be able to help you.FL Big Dog rescue is another good one.SAFE I think is all breed friendly, and does alot for the TB area.Lost Angels is another all breed one.

My reasoning for NOT reccomending Pit Bull Happenings rescue is because they do NOT spay/nueter or vaccinate dogs in their care until someone pays/fills out an app to adopt it. They also only take owner surrenders, and most of them have to already be fixed and vacc'd. Then they charge a high adoption fee when they've done nothing. They guy that "owns" PBH rescue and forum is far from being a good rep for this breed or the human race. He also uses donations for the rescue on his personal dogs. He's also a member here...

Good to know about PBH, thanks. I grew up in Illinois, so I'll admit I'm a lot more familiar with the rescues available up north, than down in Florida. However, it looks like I may have found a home for the little hellion. Its a family I know already. They've got 3 dogs and 4 kids. They've been wanting a pit puppy for awhile, but have been very cautious because their three year old was bit on the face several months ago by a dog. Since Aveline's reaction to the neighborhood children swarming her has been unbridled joy/climbing in laps, I figured she could do well with them. They came over and visited her yesterday, and she was wonderful with all four kids, and both adults. She's staying with me at least until she's spayed and fully vaccinated, and because I want time for any behavioral issues she might have to show up before she moves in with them.

Currently, I'm very, very impressed by her temperament. For a dog that had a rough couple of months, the fact that every new person she sees is a source of happy excitement impresses me. She is growing more confident, and now she only piddles sometimes when a new person pets her. She's also growing mouthy, but short time-outs in the crate seem to be helping with that. The injuries are looking much better, although I suspect at least some of them may scar. The largest puncture wound is almost completely closed now, which is good, since she managed to kill the doughnut thing I had around her neck to stop her from pulling out the staples.

Take a look at the "Got a Mouthy Pup" thread in Training. There are good tips in there to help you. Please don't use the crate as a punishment, this will eventually cause problems with her association with the crate.